MICHAEL KOSTA: Super hurricanes,
drought, wildfires turning New York City the color of SunnyD.
Across America, climate change is wreaking havoc and driving
people from their homes.
And experts say this is only the beginning.
This is in the order of millions of people.
REPORTER: So where might they go?
Climate researchers say the answer is in and up.
Think Duluth.
MICHAEL KOSTA: Wow!
So millions of coastal elites like myself will one
day be flocking to Minnesota?
Is this the city of the future?
Let's find out.
Am I moving?
I can't feel my legs.
I'm not moving.
Why was there not a jacket in my suitcase?
To learn more, I met with Chief Sustainability
Officer, Mindy Granley.
So tell me about "Duh-luhth."
Well, Duluth is a great city.
We're on a great lake.
We have lots of fresh water.
Do you mind if we--
if we finish this inside?
Because if I don't go inside in seven seconds,
my heart's going to explode. - Of course.
OK, come on. Let's go.
Oh, my gosh. Let's go.
Let's go. Let's go.
So what were you saying about "Duh-luhth?"
Duluth.
What were you saying about Duluth?
Well, experts have called Duluth a climate refuge
because we're a place that's fairly safe from the worst
effects of climate change.
You're talking about in 50 years,
when this climate change thing, like, really gets bad, right?
A few people are moving here now from California
because of climate change.
So you're telling me people are moving
here from the good states?
Yes.
MICHAEL KOSTA: Mindy claims Duluth has big advantages,
like 10% of the world's drinking water in Lake
Superior and room for up to 10,000 new residents
because it's basically that barren ice
planet from Star Wars.
And some people can handle 80 inches of snow
every winter and--
80 inches of snow?
Over 80.
Jesus Christ.
Do you think those big UN climate change summits would
be more effective if people knew that the alternative
was having to move to Duluth?
Well, there's really no bad weather.
There's just bad clothing.
Bad clothing.
So people are still wearing Balenciaga here.
We don't know what that is.
MICHAEL KOSTA: Despite this vast cultural divide,
coastal refugees are getting ready to flood Duluth.
But are the locals prepared?
There's a migrant caravan of Californians coming.
They're bringing their spin instructors, their kombucha
makers, their oat milk.
Are you ready for that?
I don't mind having a few more friends.
Any advice for refugees that are coming here?
Oh, sure.
You need to dress really warm.
They can't dress warmly because then they would lose
their job as Instagram models.
Well, it's going to be hard to be a bikini model here.
I mean, you're laughing, but this
is important to my culture.
Your culture.
MICHAEL KOSTA: It felt like we were speaking
two different languages.
But how deep was this divide?
Polo or rugby?
Oh, rugby for sure.
Why?
Because I like sports that--
No, no, I don't mean the sport.
I'm talking about names for children.
Oh, God.
Polo or Rugby?
Neither.
Are there any members-only, exclusive clubs here.
Well, there's Sam's Club and Costco.
So I can do cocaine in the bathroom there?
Uh--
I even got some words of wisdom
from former Duluth mayor, Emily Larson, seen here in a press
conference last July.
Duluth is gritty and resilient and real.
We work hard.
We really care about each other.
That's going to be tough for some of these people in LA
because they don't work hard, and they
don't care about each other.
But the first wave of Californians are already here.
So how are they surviving?
It does feel like another planet sometimes.
Meet ex-Californian and environmentalist,
Jamie Alexander.
We packed into a camper van, thinking
we were going to drive out here and spend the summer.
And then wildfire season of 2020
happened, and I decided to move my family here
because of climate change.
Let's be honest, OK?
There's no Dulutherans here.
Is it Dulutherans?
Delutherians?
Duluthians.
MICHAEL KOSTA: Duluthians.
All right, let's be honest.
There's no Duluthians here, OK?
This place [BLEEP] sucks, right?
It doesn't.
I love it here.
I want to live in a place where it feels real.
People say that the Dulutherans, Du--dulags
are more real people.
A New Yorker spits in my face, it feels pretty real.
Yeah.
I mean, I think what is meant by that is here,
you're connected to your neighbors.
Everywhere is going to experience climate impacts.
If a climate-related weather event happened,
would you be able to lean on your neighbors?
I've lived in New York for seven years.
I don't know my neighbor, and I don't
want to know my neighbor.
Next question, do you have a winter jacket for me?
I didn't-- this is not cutting it.
And my BMI is, like, under 2%.
You know what I'm saying?
Jamie told me to really understand Duluthians,
I would have to walk a mile in their shoes,
even if mine were nicer.
These boots are Louis.
I'm not going to get snow on them, am I?
[LAUGHS] You probably will.
You ready to do it?
I'm ready.
Let's go.
Ah!
Shoot.
They're kind of hard to walk in at first.
OK, there goes my suit.
Hey, those look like huge almost rats.
JAMIE ALEXANDER: They're deer.
Do they ever take the pizza out of your hand
when you're in the subway or anything?
No.
MICHAEL KOSTA: No, hmm, that's-- you're lucky.
Duluth was starting to grow on me,
but there was just one problem.
The idea that there's, like, a climate-proof city is A,
it's not true at all.
And B, it's dangerous because every place on Earth
is already experiencing climate impacts.
And climate change is happening now,
and people are making huge, life-changing decisions
because of it.
Then what the [BLEEP] am I doing here?
I left my wife and family for a week to come here,
and it's not even a real climate refuge?
No. MICHAEL KOSTA: Damn.
I knew the only thing that could
cheer up this coastal elite was hitting the spa.
But unfortunately, for me, in Duluth,
even the spa is terrifying.
We had to remove 30 inches of ice
so that you can go jump in it.
Oh, my god.
MAN: And your body is going to tell you you're going to die,
but you're retraining some of those neural pathways
in your head to say, hey, I can handle hard stuff.
MICHAEL KOSTA: Yeah, I can handle this.
I'm going in.
Maybe once I get used to it, the cold isn't so bad.
Woo!
Ah!
I'm frozen to the to the thing.
Well, at least I can go back to New York.
Now, goddammit it, that's my car.
[APPLAUSE, CHEERING]